A/N: This is a somewhat racier than my usual stories hence the higher rating. Nothing bad, but it does talk about an attraction between people of the same sex has a scene where two people are in a shower together. Nothing happens, get your mind out of the gutter! Personally, I see nothing wrong with it but there's always someone who'll get up in arms about it, hence this warning. X-Men: Evolution is not mine. Amira is mine and Althea is Red Witch's. Clear?
AMIRA'S DILEMMA
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Amira was lying in bed, still asleep, when she felt the bed sag as someone else joined her. "Hi Althea," She murmured sleepily as she smiled and turned over to plant a kiss on her lovers' soft lips…
"AMIRA!" Someone shouted. Amira opened one eye slowly and lifted her face from her pillow. She frowned in thwarted frustration.
"Dammit! It's not fair." Amira mumbled in half a whine as she looked up. Rahne was sitting on the corner of her bed.
"Finally awake are we?" The Scottish girl asked with some exasperation. "I've been trying to get your lazy butt up for ten minutes."
"Can't a girl have her fantasies?" Amira grumbled as she sat up and stretched languidly.
"You can make out with your pillow later." Rahne said archly. "Breakfast is ready and we don't need to hear you grumbling about not getting your morning coffee all day."
"All right, all right. I'll get up." Amira sighed as she through off the covers and got out of bed.
"You might want to put something on before you go downstairs." Rahne said as she turned away. Amira had very little body modesty. Last week Sam saw her dancing to 'ABC' in her underwear with the door partially open. Rahne figured it was a rebellion against the more restrictive and conservative aspects of her life until this point.
"Spoilsport." Amira said as she pulled on some clothes.
"You've really got it bad for Althea, huh?" Rahne as she turned around again. Amira looked down and nodded.
"It's not fair!" Amira moaned. "I finally find a girl I'm interested in—a hot one too—and she's already with Kermit the Frog's homely little brother!"
"Still better than Aiden," Rahne grunted. "Anyway Althea isn't even…you know."
"I've got to get a chance to spend some time alone with her!" Amira exclaimed. "Can you help me? Please?"
"Me? Why me?" Rahne asked. "This is Lance and Kitty all over again! How am I supposed to—" Amira got down on her knees, hands clasped in front of her and pleaded.
"Pleeeease? I'm begging you! I don't know what to do!"
"All right already!" Rahne said as she threw her hands up. "I'll see what I can do. But you owe me."
"Thank you Rahne! Thank you! Mwaah!" Amira planted a grateful kiss on the astonished Rahne's forehead as she sprinted down for breakfast.
Rahne shook her head and as she turned to leave saw Penny sitting in the doorway, her head cocked at an angle as if puzzled by what she'd seen. "Don't ask." Rahne sighed. "Just don't ask."
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When Rahne came down to breakfast, she found that the Misfits had once again decided to come by and swipe their food and engage in pointless philosophical arguments.
"Here is where you are wrong, my friend. This woman has killed before." Fred said to Pietro.
"Allegedly." Pietro reminded him.
"Okay, whatever. But she was a big girl. We are talking about a large, healthy woman of questionable stability."
"Oh, you are totally underestimating the never-say-die scrappiness of a survivor." Pietro countered.
"Hey, guess what? Nobody cares who would win in a crazy fantasy fist-fight between Lizzie Borden and Anne Frank. So shut up!" Wanda snapped. Gaping at the stupidity of it all, Rahne made her way past them and into the kitchen grateful that the X-Men weren't that bad.
"Come on! They have one female servicing a large group of males. That implies a species that lays eggs." Forge was telling Kurt.
"Oh my God, you're crazy! They're so obviously mammals!" Kurt exclaimed.
"Please! She'd be in estrus 24/7 if she didn't lay eggs."
"Smurfs don't lay eggs! I won't tell you this again! Papa Smurf has a freaking beard! They're mammals!"
"Lord have mercy." Rahne moaned as she banged her head against the wall.
"I see you've arrived at the meeting of the mindless." Althea quipped. "If you go into the living room you'll see the others debating whether or not Darth Maul could've beat Darth Vader and if Steven Colbert could ever be president."
"Those are the dumbest conversations!" Rahne moaned. "It's not even as if they're talking about real people like you or me."
"No offense but I don't think any fight between us would be much of a competition." Althea shrugged. "I haven't found a good sparring partner in a long time."
"None taken. I—" Rahne blinked as an idea struck her. "I might not be much for that kind of stuff, but what about Amira?"
"Amira?"
"You're a ninja and she's super-flexible, I mean super-agile…whatever. Seems like a pretty close contest to me."
"That's…an interesting idea." Althea allowed. "But do you think she'll be up for it?"
"Trust me." Rahne sighed, "I don't think it'll take much convincing. Especially if it involves you and her tumbling around on the ground."
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"You ready for this?" Althea asked later that day. Althea was dressed in a martial arts gi and Amira was in her New Mutants uniform. She and Amira were over at the Pit's dojo. Somehow it seemed like the proper setting for a sparring match though Amira was still uncomfortable around the Joes.
"Ready or not you've given me plenty of time to warm up." Amira said in what she hoped was a calm voice. Her heart seemed to be skipping a beat at the realization that they were alone together.
"All right then." Althea said amiably half a second before she launched herself at Amira with a flying kick. Amira bent back almost double in order to avoid it. Althea sailed so close over Amira's head that she had time to see just what size shoe Althea wore.
"You are quick." Althea said approvingly as she landed and resumed her fighting stance. "Good."
"You're not bad yourself." Amira returned right before Althea leaped at her and launched a series of punches and jabs. Amira ducked, twisted, and weaved out of the way. They danced around each other like a snake and mongoose.
"I. wish. I was. As nimble. As you!" Althea said in between breaths and punches, the envy clear in her voice. Amira's mutant ability gave her incredible grace and fluidity of movement.
"It's nothing. Without. The training!" Amira rejoined. Despite Amira's natural skills, they were barely keeping up with the superb martial arts skills and training Althea worked hard to master. Inborn talent wasn't everything.
"Flatterer." Althea teased as she dropped down and swept her leg out in an attempt to knock Amira off her feet. Amira didn't so much leap over Althea's leg as much as she simply tucked her feet under her body to avoid it. "You ever just…spar before?" Amira shook her head, both in answer to Althea's question and to avoid the kick that Althea aimed at her head.
"No. Not like this." Althea looked confused.
"Really? I would've thought that you and Vlad…" Amira's mouth flattened itself into a thin line at the mention of her old dead boyfriend.
"Vlad really wasn't ever a fighter. It was just a task Frost gave him." Amira said as she moved out of Althea's range. She felt a pang of regret that she was trying to win Althea so soon after Vlad's death but consoled herself by thinking that Vlad wouldn't have wanted her to spend the rest of her life alone and miserable. Besides, even Vlad thought Althea was attractive.
"And you?" Althea asked, sorry for the unfortunate memories she dredged up by mentioning Vlad.
"I like to fight." Amira said grimly as she punched and jabbed at Althea, who immediately went on the defensive.
"Even when. You can't. Win?" Althea grinned as she easily blocked Amira's blows. Amira might have been a master at evasion and defense, but her offensive skills were nowhere near as good as hers.
"I'm a Palestinian." Amira said simply. "I have no use for the odds."
"My kind of girl." Althea chuckled. Amira was so taken aback by the comment—reading far too much into it—she was caught flat-footed when Althea grabbed her by the arm and flung her over her shoulder.
"OOF!" Amira grunted as she landed hard on her backside.
"You hurt?" Althea asked.
"Just my pride," Amira grumbled as she rubbed her bruised posterior as she got back up.
"You ready?" Althea asked.
"Almost." Amira said evenly as she picked up a handful of dirt from the ground and flung it into the air over Althea. As Althea blinked and coughed, Amira launched herself at her.
"You sneaky little desert rat." Althea coughed admiringly as she narrowly avoided getting kicked in the stomach.
"Just being mindful of my surroundings," Amira smirked not feeling ashamed in the slightest as she managed to land a glancing blow to Althea's shoulder.
"Of course you realize." Althea said, grunting. "This means war!"
"As you're President said, bring it on!"
The fight grew even more intense as the two girls went at it with hammers and tongs, no holds bared and no quarter asked or given.
As the fight wore on two things were clear; first of all, Althea had more practice with drawn out fights and had more endurance than Amira was used to (training under the Blind Master, Snake Eyes, and Storm Shadow had no doubt played a part in that) and secondly; that Althea was simply better. Just better.
Hot, exhausted, with sweat stinging her eyes it was only a matter of time until Amira made a mistake for Althea to capitalize on. That moment came when Amira tried for an impossible kick and Althea swept her other leg out from under her. Amira went down hard on her back. Even as she got back up on one knee, Althea tackled her.
"Give up?" Althea panted as she pinned the Arab girl to the ground.
"Let me think about it." Amira gasped, smiling at having a hot, sweaty Althea perched on top of her. "I could go a few more rounds."
"Liar." Althea smirked. "Come on, let's call it a day."
"All right," Amira sighed. "I give up." Althea rolled off Amira—much to Amira's disappointment—and extended a hand to help her up.
"You're pretty good. I bet if you came for training sessions you'd be practically unstoppable." Althea said.
"Yeah right," Amira said as she took Althea's hand. She looked down at her uniform. "Man these things really aren't made to last, are they?" Sure enough her uniform was pretty battered and torn. There were also several rips along the seams, suggested that Amira's garment wasn't as flexible as she was.
"You should probably get one specially made for you." Althea suggested. "I hear there's a woman named Edna Mode who's good at these things."
"Maybe." Amira said as she looked at herself. Then she wrinkled her nose. "Bleech! I stink!"
"It's not just you." Althea groaned. "We really worked up a sweat today."
"I better go home and take a bath." Amira grumbled, unhappy at the thought of having to put up with whatever comments people threw her way for how she looked or smelled. Althea shrugged.
"Come on, we have showers in the back." She said as she fetched her normal clothes and a towel off a rack.
"Um…" Amira blushed incandescently. Here was an opportunity most people would've killed for: a shower with the object of your infatuations. Amira's presence in the girl's locker room back at the Institute had been shunned; her bisexuality was just seen as too discomforting for most of the other girls.
While Amira wasn't that hung up on body modesty, showering with Althea might just be more than she could handle. Although she certainly wouldn't have minded a bit if Althea had decided to burst in on her in the shower, the way she does to Toad.
Still, Amira did need to shower and saying no would bring up even more awkward questions…"Okay," Amira said, her voice hitching a little. She cleared her throat. "No problem."
Not really noticing Amira's hesitation, Althea headed for the showers followed closely by Amira.
Amira felt herself trembling slightly as she and Althea undressed and went into the dojo's shower. The hot water. She sighed and unconsciously started humming under her breath.
"What are you doing?" Althea asked her. Amira looked over at her and blushed.
"Oh…uh, it's just a little ditty I know." She mumbled. She cleared her throat and started to softly sing.
Sing hey for the bath at close of day;
that washes the weary mud away
A loon is head that will not sing…
Oh, water hot is a noble thing!
She muttered the last line more than sung it, totally humiliated. Althea smiled. "I know that. It's from the Lord of the Rings."
Oh, sweet is the sound of falling rain,
and the brook that leaps from hill to plain;
but better than rain or rippling streams
is water hot that smokes and steams!
"That's the one." Amira sighed, happy that she hadn't made a total idiot of herself. "Vlad used to love all the songs and poetry in those books."
"Even when he was a kid he was a fantasy/science-fiction geek." Althea chuckled. "I think half of the attraction to socialism was the fact that he thought the Federation was."
"And he was still going on about that when I knew him!" Amira laughed. She paused. "You know, he really cared about you."
"I know." Althea said quietly. "And I know he cared about you too. I know this may be a little soon but I don't think he'd want you to mourn him so much that you forget to live." Amira's heart fluttered.
"Really?" She said in more of a squeak than her usual voice as she looked at Althea. She let her gaze linger as her eyes drifted downwards.
"Hey! My eyes are up here!" Althea snapped when she saw what Amira was looking at.
"I'm sorry but I just can't help looking." Amira blinked.
"I guess I can't blame you." Althea sighed.
"I wish I had a pair like that."
"They are nice aren't they?"
"Can I…touch them?"
"I don't see why not."
"Wow…."
"Yeah gills really are a nice feature, especially when I'm at the beach."
"They're not your only nice feature." Amira mumbled.
"What was that?" Althea asked.
"Nothing." Amira said quickly. She cleared her throat. "Thanks again for spending time with me. I…really enjoy your company."
"Anytime. Heaven knows our teams need some friends on the other side."
"Yeah." Amira said numbly. "Team relations and all that."
"Oh don't be that way." Althea chided her. "I'd be friends with you anyway, I'm just saying…Look, how about this? As a favor to you and to Vlad, why don't I help you find a boyfriend—or girlfriend—when you feel ready?" Amira had a hard time smoothing over her expression.
"Oh, um, what if I find a girl say and she isn't…"
"Well," Althea said. "I'm sure that if she gets to know you well enough then I'm sure she might crossover to the 'Dark Side,' as it were."
"You really think so?" Amira asked excitedly. Althea nodded.
"You're a great person. Who wouldn't want you?" She asked rhetorically as she turned the water in the showers off. "Come on. Let's get toweled off and dressed."
"I didn't really bring anything aside from my uniform and it's—" She pointed at the rags that used to be her New Mutant uniform.
"No problem. I brought some spare clothes. You can wear those back. In fact, keep them. Call them a gift."
"Thanks!" Amira said happily, little hearts practically dancing in her eyes. "I knew she liked me!" She thought giddily. "I knew it!"
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That night as Rahne was on her way to bed she passed by Amira's room, intending to ask how her day went. She poked her head in through the open door and stopped when she saw Amira sitting on her bed and giggling as she hugged what looked like an old outfit to her chest and kept saying; "Mine, mine, mine…"
Rahne closed the door behind her and moaned.
"Oh dear God, what have I done?"
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THE END